Meditation leads to self awareness

Sri Ramakrishna would often use a beautiful example to explain the indescribable nature of Brahman which is beyond words, speech, etc.  The analogy is like this. A salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. The moment it got into the waters, it got dissolved completely and who could come back and tell the depth of the ocean. By this he meant that any attempt to describe the true nature of Brahman, etc are futile since Brahman is beyond the grasp of the senses.

The analogy also reveals another insight of Sri Ramakrishna if one observes carefully. The salt doll got dissolved in the waters of the ocean because of its completely salty nature. If one were to immerse a salt doll in a vast reservoir of oil, the doll would not get dissolved in the same way as it does in salt waters. This is because the doll made of salt when it gets into the salt waters of the ocean gets closest to its real nature. Because of that, it losses itself completely in the salt waters and gets merged into it.  In such a condition, it has no separate identity or existence and hence it is unable to function in any manner whatsoever. In the same way as one goes deeper into Sadhana such as meditation, at deep levels of Samadhi one starts transcending the limits of the senses. Normally, the human mind feels that he or she is limited and bound by several restrictions or conditions.

There is no awareness of one’s true nature or reality.  But, as one intensifies one’s Sadhana or practices disciplines such as meditation, it is possible to go deep into oneself. At fairly advanced stages of meditation, such as an experience of Samadhi, etc one starts transcending the limits of senses. Then one gets very close to one’s real nature and is able to realize one’s true nature as Sat Chit Anand or Existence, Knowledge and Bliss.